SOME people will scale any height or overcome any obstacle to help others and that is exactly what Kevin Maguire and his merry band of friends did in July when they scaled four mountains in aid of the Kerry Hospice Foundation.

This is the third year that Kevin - with the help of his girlfriend Mags Gaynor, Glenflesk - has organised the Kerry Four Peaks Challenge and with each passing year it has grown in popularity. Last year, the hikers raised an impressive €4,000 for the charity, while this year, an even more fantastic €6,000 was generated. Kevin and some of the challenge participants were on hand recently to hand over the cheque.

This year 22 climbed Carrauntuohill and Mangerton on July 13, and backed up those treks with jaunts up Caher and Mount Brandon the next day – a total of 12,474 feet.

"It (weather) was brutal for the four of them. We had an early start the first day, 6am in the morning," Kevin told The Kerryman. "We had practice hikes every second weekend, that got us ready. We kept each other going. It's all a bit of craic not a race."

And, there are murmurings that the challenge will be laid down again next year, according to Kevin: "There's more interest for next year but I'll have to put a ban on talking about it."